Fins

by Ashley L. Knight

  “You asked me what my powers were.” Taking my hand in his again, he studied my palm. “I can get a feeling from people when I touch them. I can understand them. I am also able to swim fast.”

  “What do you mean fast?” I asked.

  “Very fast.”

  “What else?”

  “I have this energy that comes from within me that I can focus and use as a weapon.”

  My mind flew back to the day Akin attacked me.

  “I remember a very bright light, almost like the one Limus used on you.” I said.

  He looked down and massaged his shoulder with his free hand. “Yeah, well, not exactly. He uses his for evil. I use mine for good.”

  “Like to save damsels in distress?”

  “Just one damsel in distress.”

  A new plate of fruit was brought to us and we both dug in. For some reason, I was starving. Then I remembered Thayde had been hinting at a fourth power if he found his love. Was that why he was suddenly coming on so strong? I stopped, my fork raised and a mango hanging from the end.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You said you had a fourth power coming to you. Is that,” but I stopped. I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say to Thayde. Here was this gorgeous man, obviously interested in me, but how much of that was my delusion? He had said he loved me, but what if all this was just so he could get his fourth power? I started to feel sick. I put my fork down and stood up.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked again, this time sounding worried. He stood and I pushed my chair in.

  “I don’t feel so well,” I admitted. “I think I need to find the bathroom,”

  “It’s over there,” he pointed to the ladies room and started to push his chair in.

  “Don’t!” I cried, stepping away. “I mean, I see it.”

  I turned straight into a waiter, causing him to tip over a glass he held in his hand.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled and quickly made my way to the restroom.

  Hovering over the toilet, yet again, all sorts of thoughts ran through my head. What if this had all been part of the plan from the very beginning? What if Thayde and Akin had planned my attack so he would rescue me and I would bond more quickly to him? What if they planned The Judgment knowing that I’d be there to see, to try and rescue him, to get my parents involved and to get him to our house so I could fall for him even more? What if my dreams were all a set up?

  I started to heave. What if this was just a complete hoax and I was the joke of it all? I wanted to throw up desperately, but I didn’t. Finally, I washed my hands and straightened my shirt. Placing my cool hands on either side of my face, I tried to slow my thoughts. Perhaps these were all the ranting’s of an immature high schooler. Maybe the death of my father was making me more susceptible to my hormonal feelings. I didn’t know. I just knew that I wanted to leave. Now.

  I left the ladies room to see Thayde paying the waiter. I approached the table and he looked up. His face was granite. He stood.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  We returned to the Ferrari and he pulled onto the road in silence. We drove that way for a while until he turned into a parking lot by the beach. The Ferrari engine purred seductively and when Thayde turned the key, it was silent.

  “Morgan, please listen to what I’m going to say to you.” His voice was sad. “I felt everything you were going through in that bathroom. I know what’s bothering you and I want you to know that everything you thought back there was wrong.”

  He leaned his head against his seat. “I know all this has been hard for you to understand, but you must believe me when I say I love you. We’ve corded and that’s incredible.”

  “Why haven’t I heard about cording before?” I asked, a little mad that he had known what I was feeling. Was his fourth power going to be mind reading? Just great.

  “Because you weren’t raised mermaid.” Thayde reached up and lifted my hair away from my face. “When I was sick, did you ever feel hurt or nauseous or in pain?”

  I didn’t have to think back. I knew I had. At the time, I hadn’t known what it was.

  “If you have, then you were feeling what I was feeling. You wouldn’t have felt that if we weren’t corded.” He pulled his hand back and traced the scars on his right wrist with his fingers.

  “I wouldn’t have gone through all this if I didn’t love you. I wanted to protect you and I wasn’t able to. I’m supposed to protect you. I wanted to make sure nothing ever harmed you but I couldn’t even protect you from my brother. I had to take the punishment because, if I hadn’t, they would have come after you for making false accusations against one of their kind. Couple that with the fact that they don’t like you, they would have hurt you and you would have left. I would have lost you.”

  It was as if I could feel his heart breaking.

  “Morgan, I love you. I know it sounds stupid for me to tell you this, but it is true. I would never hurt you or lie to you.”

  “You’d never lie?” I asked.

  His eyes met mine. “No.”

  “Then tell me why I am able to bring The Fire? I asked with finality.

  He didn’t look shocked.

  “You’re able to bring it because I think you’re The Link.”

  “The Link?” I nearly cried. “What like, the missing link?”

  “You’re the only Halfling ever to have such a power. Once Halflings choose to become merpeople, they don’t have special powers. They can only breathe underwater and once in a while, they have a tail. Rarely do they have both, and they most certainly don’t have any powers beyond that. You’re different.”

  Thayde looked out toward the sunset. “Our histories speak of this Link bringing peace and order to our kind. In all the tales though, the link was a merman.”

  Suddenly, I recalled my conversation with Geiruna. She had said something about the Dartmoth’s trying to create a special Being. She was talking about The Link. It all seemed beyond rational.

  “What do you mean?”

  Instead of answering me, he opened his car door. Walking around to my side, he held open my door and his hand.

  “Walk with me?” He offered and I let him pull me out of the car.

  He led me to the beach a few yards away and once we reached the water’s edge, he kicked off his shoes and let the water cover his feet.

  “Do you feel it?” He asked, staring out to sea.

  I looked in the direction he was and shook my head.

  “Feel what?”

  “All of us are drawn to the sea. It’s a yearning that’s a part of us. When we’re not near it, we get sick.” He looked back at me. “It makes us who we are.”

  “I guess I don’t have that yearning,” I said and sat down on the sand, away from the surf. Sure, I liked the water, but it wasn’t as if I hadn’t survived without it before. Maybe it was because I was a Halfling.

  Thayde eased next to me and took my hand. My heart fluttered.

  “Morgan, I know you’re strong. I know you don’t like people telling you what you can and can’t do. I know all of this has been overwhelming.” He frowned. “If you don’t like me, I’ll leave you alone.” He paused, seeming to think about what he was going to say next. “I know I’ve come across a bit too eager, but it’s only because I’ve been waiting for you for so long. If you don’t want to be with me, I’ll back off.”

  I started to feel sick again. This was definitely not what I wanted.

  “Thayde,” I started, praying he’d understand what I was going to say, “Everything has happened to me this past month. I’ve lost my dad, found out that merpeople are real and that I’m one of them, discovered that I’ve got a sister and witnessed stuff that I’ve always known to be impossible. It’s been really hard. But the only thing that kept me going through all this was knowing that somewhere in my dreams was this guy. This guy I’d never seen before, but somehow I knew. It was you.”

  The next part was going to be hard.

  “
When Akin did what he did, it was humiliating, and you saw it. That was not how I imagined us meeting and I’m so ashamed.” I stopped talking because I couldn’t go on. The guilt of everything that had happened was too much.

  Thayde pulled me into his arms and held me tight. “None of that was your fault. I should have been there sooner. I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “You couldn’t have stopped it,” I said.

  “I could have, if I’d been there sooner.”

  What could I do? Argue? He was going to blame himself for this for the rest of his life. I pulled back and looked him straight in the eyes.

  “Thank you,” I said, “for saving me.”

  He touched the bridge of my nose and took my face in his hands. “You’re welcome,” he whispered and softly kissed me.

  Have you ever felt like you’ve melted into someone? That first kiss was from a dream. His lips were silk. When he pulled back to see if it was ok that he’d kissed me, I opened my eyes. A feeling of warmth and energy surrounded me. Again, he lightly kissed me, and when his sweet breath touched my skin, it raised goose bumps.

  I leaned into him and passionately, he pulled me close. The warmth and energy continued to surround us and I felt lost in his love. My arms entwined themselves around his neck and head and I was pulling him back with me. I held onto his shoulders as I lay back into the sand and it was then that he pulled away, a breath of pain separating us. When I looked at his face, his jaw was clenched.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, but I already knew.

  “No, I’m sorry,” I gently touched his ribs. “I forgot.”

  “It’s all right,” he said, rolling onto his back. “I haven’t ever broken anything before.”

  “Never?” I asked, sitting up and looking down at him.

  “No, I don’t break.”

  “You don’t break,” I repeated slowly and let myself touch his hair.

  “But I’ve never had to let my guard down, either.”

  I shifted to my knees and faced him. He looked so beautiful lying there on the sand. I felt protective and knowing he was hurt brought overwhelming feelings of love and sympathy. I leaned over him and he watched me with those intense blue eyes.

  “I take it you don’t want me to leave you alone?” He asked, smiling at me.

  “No,” I whispered, touching his lips with mine. His arms pulled me closer to him, one hand softly at my neck and the other around my back. Making sure I didn’t place any weight on his chest, I kissed him as deeply as I could. Again, that warmth began to encircle us. It was peaceful and felt right. Everything about him made me want to be with him, even his smell.

  I don’t know how long we lay there kissing, but after a while, Thayde pulled away and lightly kissed my nose.

  “I think we should stop now,” he said.

  “Why?” I asked, feeling almost drunk.

  “I don’t want to go too far.”

  It was sweet. He was being so respectful and here I was, at the verge of tearing his clothes off. I nodded and sat back. Carefully, he sat up, wincing a few times.

  “I don’t think I want to go through another Judgment,” he said lightly.

  “You won’t have to,” I said.

  I helped him stand. We held each other and watched the sun set. Gold melted into orange and as the sun disappeared, the red that was left behind reminded me of the final color of The Fire when it happened to me.

  “Shall I take you home now?” He asked, breathing into my hair.

  “No.”

  “Ah, but you have to be back before midnight,” he turned me toward my shoes, “or else you’ll turn into a pumpkin, remember?”

  He was right. And Mom would have a fit. Pulling our shoes on, we walked hand in hand back to his car and as we drove back home, all I could think was “I’m in love!”

  Chapter Nine

  Nothing’s Normal

  Thayde kissed me good night and left me standing in the door of my room. I fell into bed, head reeling from all the emotions I was feeling. The last thing I wanted to do was go to sleep, especially knowing he was in the guest bedroom.

  All I could think about was Thayde - how his touch felt on my skin, how he smelled so good, and his eyes - those gorgeous blue eyes, staring straight into my soul. I fell asleep thinking of him and I woke up thinking of him. “I’m going to marry this man,” I thought.

  Jumping out of bed, I pulled on a sarong and quickly brushed my teeth. I ran a brush lightly through my hair and decided to go ahead and find Mom and tell her I was in love with Thayde.

  A beautiful breakfast was set up in the gazebo. Mom and Tammer were already eating. Seaweed. Blech.

  As I approached them, they both looked up at the same time. Naira sat on Mom’s lap and smiled as I sat down.

  “Hello,” she said in her sweet little voice, “I like Thayde.”

  “I do too,” I agreed and grabbed a slice of fresh coconut. “What do you guys think?” I asked, pretending to be preoccupied by the coconut.

  “I think he’s very nice, Morgandy.” Mom sounded sad.

  “What’s wrong?” Something was always up with these two. I was starting to dread their answers.

  “It’s just that, well, I guess I wasn’t prepared to lose you so quickly.” Mom grabbed a glass of water and took a drink.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said and looked at Tammer. “What’s she talking about?”

  He finished his mouthful and cleared his throat. “Well, you’ll be eighteen in December. You’ve met the man you’re going to marry.”

  Darn his mind reading.

  “You’re obviously in love with him and he’s head over heels about you.” He rubbed his chin. “It’s playing out exactly as it did for us.”

  There was silence. No one spoke. Not even the birds made noise.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “We were told that history was going to repeat itself.”

  “Who told you that?” I pretended to not be concerned.

  “Geiruna.”

  “And you believed her?”

  Mom kissed the top of Naira’s head and whispered in her ear. She slid off Mom’s lap and skipped into the house. Mom watched her lovingly and then looked at me.

  “Many years ago, she gave me a gift and I took it, not knowing that I’d owe her. Tammer found out and told me what Geiruna had done, and I tried to give the gift back. She refused to take it, and after a huge disagreement, I ended up throwing it into the sea. She cursed us.”

  Tammer continued. “She said there would be great tragedy in our lives and that history would repeat itself.”

  “So you’re saying that Thayde and I are falling into your footsteps?”

  Mom started to tear up. Tammer didn’t say anything.

  “That’s not true!” I stammered and could feel the worry start to creep into my thoughts. Maybe what Geiruna had told me was not all truth.

  “Things are starting to happen the same way and it’s more than coincidence. When Thayde went through The Judgment we knew it to be true. I had to go through one when I was Thayde’s age because I didn’t want Elan to be a slave to Geiruna for the rest of her life. So I took the punishment and Elan was released, but we are still cursed. She said she released us, but I think she lied. Now that you and Thayde have found each other, it’s already begun.”

  “We didn’t plan on you moving here, but with your father’s death, we had no choice. We’ve been afraid the Dartmoth’s warning would be upheld. It was wonderful you were able to phase and had a power, but we were very worried that if you found your love, the curse would come true. Once you found Thayde, we knew there was no stopping it and we didn’t want you to be without him once you found him. It would have been awful for you. That’s why we brought Thayde here.”

  Mom continued, “We already knew you two were going to be together, and after going through such a terrible Judgment for you, we had to help him. It would have taken him months to recover if we hadn’t, or he m
ight have died.”

  “You guys are really serious, aren’t you?”

  They nodded.

  “So how do we stop this curse?”

  They didn’t say anything.

  “If history is supposed to repeat itself, that means there’s going to be a huge fight between our families and that someone’s going to die,” I said slowly, remembering the story Tammer had told me. “The father,” I looked at Tammer. “You’re supposed to die?”

  Mom started to cry and Tammer held her. That said it all.

  “Well, we’re just going to have to stop it!” I pressed.

  “You can’t,” Tammer breathed into Mom’s hair and rocked her slightly.

  “Nothing’s impossible!”

  “Some things are.”

  I didn’t believe that. Something had to be done. For a moment we sat in silence, until I suddenly remembered that Thayde was still staying with us.

  “He’s out for a swim.” Tammer motioned sideways with his head toward the sea steps. “He enjoys it just as much as I do. It’s like he’s a carbon copy of me.”

  “Har, har,” I said as I stood, trying to lighten the moment. “Then he’d be your son and frankly, that would be gross.”

  He smiled slightly and turned his attention back to Mom who had stopped crying and was stroking his arm. They obviously needed a minute together and I wanted to talk to Thayde.

  I returned to my bedroom and pulled on a white bikini that looked really pretty against my new golden skin. It was nice not having to worry about blinding everyone with my ivory skin when I wore a bikini.

  When I opened the door, I caught Thayde walking up the steps out of the sea, the water dripping off his body. He had removed the wrappings from around his chest and it caught my breath to see him wearing nothing but shorts. He looked like a model.

  Quickly, he wiped the water from his arms and chest with his hands and shook his black hair. He walked to Mom and Tammer and they began to talk.

  I made my way over to them, walking up behind Thayde. Water ran like tiny rivers around the muscles in his back. I resisted the urge to trace my finger along the droplets. He turned and smiled at me - that beautiful smile that made my knees weak.